The hidden costs – and benefits – of those epic battles in the cage

Watching Dan Henderson and Mauricio Rua battle it out for a second time this past weekend, retired former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin was struck with that peculiar kind of awe that carries with it at least a little sting of sadness.

“I watch guys like Henderson and ‘Shogun,’ and I just think about how lucky they are to still be able to do that,” said Griffin, 34, who retired in May 2013 after struggling with chronic injuries. “I felt so good at 32, and then by 33, I felt like, this is my forever body? Are you kidding me?”

For younger fighters dreaming of their chance to win one of those blood-and-guts battles, it’s something worth thinking about. Griffin had his share of that exact brand of action. He went three hard rounds with Stephan Bonnar to help put the UFC on the map at the first “Ultimate Fighter” finale in 2005, then gritted his way to a win over Quinton “Rampage” Jackson to claim the UFC title three years later.

The latter was particularly special to Griffin, he said, “because I was out the first two minutes of that fight. Then I had to continue fighting for another 23 minutes. That was a big one for me.”

Five years later he was calling it quits, and he really thought that his body would start to feel better after a year away from the sport. But then, just this weekend, he was messing around on a basketball hoop and made a startling discovery.

“I’ve been able to dunk a basketball since I was 14,” Griffin said. “I couldn’t touch the rim when I tried yesterday.”

That’s not to say that Griffin regrets pursuing a physically demanding career in a rough sport. But especially after the pair of grueling fights that Henderson and Rua produced, it’s worth remembering that as easy as it is to get swept up in the drama of the affair, there are also consequences to making a living that way.

As fellow UFC light heavyweight Daniel Cormier put it: “Guys like Dan Henderson and ‘Shogun’ Rua, the fight they had, you don’t come out of that cage unscathed. It’s just impossible.”

Then again, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes it’s the really difficult fights that force a fighter to grow, even transform.

Take current UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones, for instance. He got the toughest test of his career in September when he barely squeaked by challenger Alexander Gustafsson after a seesaw fight that landed both men in the hospital. It was the first time the 26-year-old champ had even come close to absorbing a beating anywhere near as severe as the one he dished out. Far from taking a physical toll on him, however, he now insists it was “actually really inspiring” for him as a fighter.

“Honestly, it was the fight that I really needed,” Jones said.

Even his coach, Greg Jackson, who’s seen plenty of battles in the cage, came away impressed. Knowing that his fighter can not just dominate opponents, but find a way to win the tough ones, he said, proves that he has more than just athletic talent on his side.

“Seeing Gustafsson push him to the brink and seeing him dig deep like that, that was special,” Jackson said.

It also didn’t prove to be quite as physically punishing as it appeared. These days, according Jones, the only injury that bothers him is his left big toe, which took an unauthorized right turn during his one-round domination of Chael Sonnen this past April. Even the toe is “just a little numb” from time to time, he said, and he never finds himself troubled by the arm that Vitor Belfort nearly folded in half a few months before that.

But to his rival Cormier, the real test for Jones will come when he steps back in the cage at UFC 172 on April 26 to defend his title against Glover Teixeira – the first fight for Jones since the punishing affair with Gustafsson.

“You don’t fight the way that those guys fought and come out of there the same person,” Cormier said. “They leave something in that cage. I guess we’ll see in April how much Jon left in the cage with Gustafsson.”

Of course, even if there is a price to be paid for the fights that thrill fans and create legends, that doesn’t mean the bill will come due right away. Just ask UFC Hall of Famer and former heavyweight champion Mark Coleman. “The Hammer” is 49 and sporting an artificial hip, not that it’s any surprise to him to learn that his years as an amateur wrestler and professional fighter have taken their toll.

“I grew up watching these wrestling idols of mine, seeing how they walked when they got older, and yeah, a lot of them walked a little crooked, but you knew there was a good reason,” Coleman said. “I personally think that in those back-and-forth wars, the best place to be is the winner. It gives you this sense of euphoria. But the second-best place to be is the loser. As bad as it feels at the time, you will get over it, and you will be better for it.”

For Coleman, his proudest moment may have come well after the glory days of his early UFC run and years after his win in the 2000 PRIDE Grand Prix. What he’s most proud of now, he said, is his unanimous decision win over Bonnar at UFC 100, when he was 44 years old.

He lost the first round pretty clearly, Coleman recalled. “Then I went to the corner, and this was my last straw. I knew it. I really had to dig deep and find a way to win the second and third round. When I did come back and win that, I can’t explain the feeling of satisfaction that it gave me. I felt like I could do anything. I felt like I was 21 again and I was going to fight for another 20 years.”

He didn’t, though. Instead he fought once more, losing to Randy Couture, then retired a few years later. But in that moment after a comeback win, Coleman said, it seems like anything is possible. That’s the upside to the physical crucible of those fights. It’s a giant psychological boost, and one that might explain why guys like the 43-year-old Henderson keep at it.

As for what it will cost you to go through the experience, only time –and maybe an MRI or two – can tell you. While Henderson and Rua may be nearing their physical expiration dates, Coleman said, the light-heavyweight champ Jones is still “a young, young fella.”

The Latest

A total of 26 fighters got their chance to shine on Saturday as part of UFC 190 at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena. Now that UFC 190 is in the books, it’s time to commence MMAjunkie’s “Three Stars” ceremony.

The man known for cranking submissions to the point of injury added eye-gouging to his repertoire. But is the controversy of Rousimar Palhares too essential to his bizarre, awful appeal for his employers to take any meaningful action against him?

Ronda Rousey’s statistical greatness has already ventured into uncharted territory – just six fights into her UFC career. Check out all the post-fight facts, including Rousey’s latest achievements, about UFC 190.